Legend of Zelda: Prince of the Eclipse
by KatieLeeBooks
Summary: A trio of strangers is speaking to each other over the events that will happen tomorrow at dusk. In a land far from the one called Hyrule, a prince of lower birth is about to be thrown into a task of aiding heroes as they fight to save the light again...


Looking at the land covered in twilight, the young hero rode his chestnut horse to its opening. A dark figure was seen speaking to him, then suddenly, he was gone in a flash. As he entered the twilight, the immense pain took over his body and as he howled in anguish, the beast took over and that howl was turned into the only thing he could say. That painful, longing howl.

* * *

Link opened his eyes to the ceiling and the light from his window. It had been a few years since twilight had tried to take over the land of Hyrule. He had been the land's only hope in bring back the light and restoring everything. Now, he was needed no more and life grew boring without the same drama and excitement that he had gone through as a hero and a beast.

He sighed as he arose from his bed and slowly made his way downstairs. His house looked perfectly cheerfully, except it was quiet. Out of all of the children (though, Link could hardly call himself a child, now), he lived on his own, fending and caring for himself. Though the independence was nice, lonely nights were hard and the playful mood of the children in the village could only fill him so much.

He longed for a smile or a face or a noise, at least. Link had considered courting a girl and settling down, but that seemed too complicated and throughout the years he really wasn't in the mood. Women were a whole new temple or monster he would have to learn to conquer.

Eating some food, Link decided to head out to Fado's early and work so he could do nothing for the rest of the day, like he always did. Rushing outside, Link slide down the ladder and hopped onto Epona. She started off and in no time they were there. It had been oddly quiet in the village, but Link guessed it was the early hour in the morning. Riding up slowly, Link let the goats out of the barn and into the pasture to graze and do about their business. While they did that, Link lied down on the small hill and looked up at the sky. He could see the eagle circling around the field and head back in the general direction of the village. Link guessed that in a few hours Beth's father would be standing on the ledge, trying to get the eagle to knock down the bee hive as he did every morning into the afternoon. He smiled. And then Beth's mother would scold him and call him a good-for-nothing-lazy-husband.

Sitting up, Link could see that the goats were at a general stand still. It was then that Link guessed it was time to round them up. Climbing onto Epona, he let out a loud whoop and led the goats back into their respectful stalls. When he finished, Link noticed Fado coming up the path in a bit of a sleepy haze. It took Fado awhile to notice Link, but was overjoyed to see that Link had done his early morning job and that he could sleep in for the day. He then turned serious and told Link to do the same. Link happily complied and slowly rode Epona home for some much needed rest.

"MR. LLLLLIIIIINNNNNKKKK!" A voice called from behind him.

Link looked back to see the mailman holding out a letter for him.

"It's from the shaman's daughter of Kakariko Village." The mailman said, handing Link the letter.

Link glared at him for the evasion of privacy. Looking back to the letter, Link read it to himself. It read:

_Come to the Feast of Eldin. To honor our light spirit on the day of his arrival to our world, we will be holding great festivities and shows. We hope you will join us, Link, for a wonderful time. Everyone would be so pleased if you came and I'm sure you would have so much fun. And, please, bring the children along with you, if it's not too much to ask. I rather enjoyed there company whilst you were saving Hyrule. So, please, Link, join us and have fun._

_Luda_

Link smiled at the formal handwriting of the shaman's daughter. He was excited to go back to Kakariko Village and of course, he wouldn't be able to leave if he didn't bring Talo, Malo, Beth, Ilia, and Colin along for the ride. It was settled, he would go.

"So, is it your girlfriend?" The mailman asked, peering over Link's shoulder, shoulder-reading the letter.

Link glared at him and rode off as Epona kicked up some dirt in the mailman's face.

"What? What did I say?"

* * *

"Midna, are you a fool?" An angry voice shouted from the corridor.

Not a sound came from a supposed Midna and the angry voice kept talking.

"You can't go back there. The minute you do, you'll be an imp. And there's no coming back here until it's over. Your kingdom, your people, and… you, in general, you'll be putting them all in danger."

"Don't think I don't know that! But, to protect everyone I have to go back. I need him, E'clyps. I need him, you need, and we all need him." Midna said quietly, noticing the hurt face of her companion.

"You don't need him. You have me. I will protect everyone." E'clyps whispered.

"You say that E'clyps and… You know in your heart that you can't."

Now, E'clyps was silent, thinking over what Midna had said. He grew angrier and angrier at the fact of his uselessness. He howled in rage and rammed his hand into the wall. Looking at Midna, he growled.

"I need to cool down, but don't think this discussion is over. I'm not letting you leave so easily." Midna trembled slightly at the intensity of the whole situation.

E'clyps stomped away and disappeared from Midna's sight. She sighed heavily and tiptoed to a secret room. There, an almost finished mirror stood prominent in the center of the room.

"One more piece and I'll be back, but… Are you ready for me… Link?" She giggled to herself and left the room.

* * *

Link had somehow managed to band all the children together and have them sit quietly in the carriage provided by Fado. He smiled and turned to the rancher.

"Just bring those kiddos back safely and ya'll have to tell us all about the festiv-festivi-parties when you get back." Fado said, petting Epona.

Link smiled and nodded. Then, they were off. Hyrule Field had become incredible peaceful after Ganon's defeat and the ride was smooth and easy. Link listened as the children talked about the upcoming fesitivites.

"Malo, are you excited to go back?" Talo asked his brother.

"Well, if you mean going back there to my shop to make a profit, then, yes, I am excited to go back." Malo explained, calmly.

"Huh? Oh, Malo you're silly."

"And you're an imbecile…"

Link laughed quietly to himself and tried to listen to what Ilia and Beth were saying, but he could only guess it was about girlish things.

"Did you hear what Luda said in her letter?" Beth asked, squirming with delight.

"Vaguely. Why?" Ilia asked. Link tensed slightly at the thought of Ilia's memory fading again.

"Well, she said that a caravan was coming through to celebrate with them."

"Really? What's so special about that?"

"Well, Miss-you're-not-gonna-hear-the-good-part-if-you- don't-appreciate-what-I'm-telling-you, it consists of a Gerudo, Sheikah, and a mysterious traveler that stays hidden under a cloak. The Gerudo is the daughter of the head Gerudo and the Sheikah is one of the most elite of bodyguards. He was hired to protect the Gerudo noble, but Luda suspects he's protecting the cloaked figure, as well."

"I wonder who the cloaked figure is."

"Well, Luda says that the mysterious person seldom speaks and if they do it's to the Gerudo or Sheikah and it's behind closed doors. Luda also said she caught them practicing with their sword and by the way she explained their technique, they are very good."

"Wow."

Link was truly surprised of the amount of information he received. This cloaked figure intrigued him. As well as the Sheikah, not many of them exist and to see one, especially in a peaceful state, is rare. Link suddenly heard Colin speak up.

"Beth, what's a Sheikah?" He asked.

"Well, Sheikah are a tribe of people who… Um, well… I don't know exactly. Link, what are the Sheikah?" Beth asked.

Link looked back, gave a weak smile, and shrugged. Beth glared at him.

"Didn't you see one on your journey, Link?" Beth whined.

"Now, Beth, Sheikah are very rare to see, you know that. If Link had seen one, he would have told us, wouldn't you, Link?" Ilia explained.

Link smiled and nodded. Beth huffed and Link turned back to concentrate on the road only to see he was coming close to hitting someone. The victim screamed and Link pulled on the reigns to slow Epona down. The victim was still screaming even though the carriage had stopped inches in front of them. They suddenly noticed and stopped screaming.

"Ah, Mr. Link. I have a letter for you. Two, in fact. Ah, and one for Ms. Ilia and Beth, as well." He explained.

Link rolled his eyes and grabbed the letters. He handed Ilia and Beth their letters and looked through his. One was from Barnes, which he decided to open later, and the other was from Luda. It read:

_Dear Link,_

_I'm so glad you could make it and bring the children, as well. We are all so excited to see you arrive. You will be surprised by the turn out of people coming, but I'm rambling. I forgot to mention in my first letter to you of three mysterious characters here in the village. Fear not, they are not harmful. They are only here for the Feast of Eldin. We hope you make it here soon._

_Luda_

Link smiled and put his letters away. He kept driving silently and listened to the idle chatter of the passengers in the back. Soon, they had made it to Kakariko Village. They were greeting warmly by the villagers and the Gorons, who were attending the festivities, as well. Amidst all of the hugging and smiles, Link noticed a trio standing near the waters of Eldin's sacred place. They were still and watched the large group in silence. Suddenly, he saw the cloaked figure's mouth move and they got up and left for the inn. He watched them intensely until they disappeared from sight.

"My friends, we are so glad you could make it and with such timing, the Feast of Eldin will begin tomorrow at dusk. It is then, that we will celebrate." Renado said.

"Yeah, there will be fireworks and food and music and food and stories and food and games and food and oh, did I mention food?" Barnes asked, drooling onto the ground in front of him.

"No, I seemed to have missed that." Beth said smugly.

"Oh well, there will be tons of- Hey!"

The group laughed and caught up with each other on their lives after Twilight had been removed from the world and Ganon had been defeated. In other places, a trio of wandering travelers is speaking to each other over the upcoming events that will happen tomorrow at dusk. In another land far from the one called Hyrule, a princess is making a rash and brave decision to save her people, herself, and the people of Hyrule. In that same place, a prince of lower birth is about to be stripped of his nobility and thrown into a task of accompanying heroes of these two worlds as they fight to save the light again.


End file.
